A blog dedicated to coverage of rock news, reviews of CD's/DVD's, live gigs and interviews with musicians who have made rock music great!
Coverage of hard rock, classic rock, AOR and popular melodic rock music across the genre.
This blog is the creation of Alun Williams, a Brit now living in Michigan whose previous credits include writing for the following sites:
www.classicrock.about.com
www.classicrockrevisited.com
and www.rocknrolluniverse.com (Now gone)
I hope you enjoy your visit here!

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Friday, February 4, 2011

Rock News Update for Friday 4th February, 2011

Bob Seger Announces First Two 2011 Tour Dates with shows in Saginaw, Michigan and Toledo, Ohio

After all the build up, talk and expectations, that have been ongoing since late last year, finally ... Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band have spread the word on the first two dates for their 2011 North American tour: The first two officially announced shows are:

Dow Event Center in Saginaw, Michigan on March 29th
andHuntington Center in Toledo, Ohio on March 31st.

The Michigan show goes onsale on February 12th at 10:00 a.m. ET and the Ohio show goes onsale February 11th at 10:00 a.m. ET via Ticketmaster.

These two shows are as speculated previously, right on Bob Seger's hometown doorstep in Michigan and both are in relatively small venues, compared to those he played on his 'comeback' tour, promoting his 'Face The Promise' album, that took place during 2006 / 2007.

This being the case, they'll no doubt sell out quickly.

Word is though that they'll be quite a few more dates yet to be announced. He has also indicated to various sources that after the tour, he'll head into the studio to complete a new album.

I for one will be very impressed if it follows the same path as 'Face The Promise.'

Well, isn't Billy Idol just that and look what a class band the guy has always had backing him up?!

I did actually like some of The Stranglers work to be honest and truth be told, I preferred them over Billy Idol'sGeneration X!

Anyway, enough of that, here's the press release for one of the original 'Men in Black!'

Hugh Cornwell, the original vocalist and guitarist of the Stranglers, hits the road for a series of UK concerts from April 6th. The man whose credentials include the Stranglers classics Golden Brown, No More Heroes, and Peaches, will not only perform his critically acclaimed solo album Guilty, but due to fan demand, he will also perform epic Stranglers songs never performed before as a solo artist, including The Raven, Schoolmaam and Toiler on the Sea.

"The idea for this tour came from my fans," says Cornwell. "The requests for Guilty haven't stopped since it was first released. Now the fans have heard my interpretation of Rattus Norvegicus, they're demanding to hear the other Stranglers epics 'a la Hugh'. I can't wait to perform them."

As a special bonus to fans, Hugh will perform Fan Choice Encores which can be voted for at http://www.hughcornwell.com/ The five songs with the most votes will end the evening. 20 VIP Tickets are available for each date and will enable fans the chance to watch and interact with Hugh before and after the sound check, where they will be given an exclusively recorded album entitled Your Covered - limited to 250 copies, personally autographed by Hugh on the night of each concert.

Free Reign is certainly one of the more intimidating-looking heavy metal bands currently on the scene.

And with good reason, as three of the four band members are players in the National Football League.

Comprised of two Dallas Cowboys (singer Marc Colombo and bassist Leonard Davis) and a Miami Dolphin (drummer Cory Procter), Free Reign is rounded out by a non-footballer, guitarist virtuoso Justin Chapman, and have issued a pair of hard-hitting releases thus far, 2010's 'Tragedy' and 2011's 'Heavier Than Metal'. The group has already won an award at the Golden God Awards [for "Most Metal Athletes"] and are making believers out of such headbanging notables as Rob Halford, Vinnie Paul, and Zakk Wylde. Don't say you haven't been warned about the power of Free Reign!

February 9th Tour Kick-Off to be Streamed LIVE to Hundreds of Media Websites Through NDN

Ustream Powers Additional Viewing Opportunities.

Tickets for Select Dates On Sale Beginning Friday, February 11th

Due to overwhelming popular demand, Bon Jovi has just added another leg to their 2011 Tour, with newly scheduled concerts in Montreal, Atlanta, Orlando, Houston, Memphis, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Columbus, and more (see BonJovi.com/Tour full itinerary). Tickets for select dates will go on sale beginning Friday, February 11th.

The 2011 tour is set to kick off on February 9th at Bryce Jordan Center in State College, PA and once again Bon Jovi will utilize the latest in web-based video technology to engage their fans worldwide, as a portion of the show will be broadcast LIVE via a free webcast. Cutting-edge digital video company News Distribution Network (NDN) will deliver the video to hundreds of the world’s top online media websites; and Ustream, the leader in live video will provide additional viewing opportunities.

NDN will stream the live concert to their publisher sites, which includes newspaper websites, online media outlets and radio websites, as Bon Jovi opens the digital doors to their State College performance on Wednesday, February 9th starting at 7:30 pm EST / 6:30 pm CST / 5:30 pm MST / 4:30 pm PST.

Fans worldwide can tune in and rock out along with the group on the campus of Penn State University. To watch the band rock the Bryce Jordan Center LIVE, click http://www.bonjovi.com/, www.Facebook.com/BonJovi, ustream.tv/BonJovi, or live.newsinc.com/bonjovi.

Viewers can also see the webcast by logging on to the websites of top national newspapers such as San Francisco Chronicle, Houston Chronicle, Chicago Sun-Times, New Jersey Star-Ledger, Boston Herald, New York Daily News, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and many more.

Bon Jovi’s 2011 dates come fresh off the heels of the band earning the top-grossing worldwide tour of 2010, according to both Billboard and Pollstar, an honor achieved for the second time in just three years. The band will perform concerts in the U.S., Canada and throughout Europe, presented by AEG Live. Globally, the Grammy® Award-winning band has sold more than 125 million albums, and performed more than 2,700 concerts in over 50 countries for more than 35 million fans. Bon Jovi Greatest Hits(Island Def Jam Music Group) debuted at #1 around the world in November, with the band’s three-decade-spanning retrospective charting higher and selling more copies in its first week than their 1994 Cross Road release, which has sold more than 21million copies to date. Previously, the band’s “Lost Highway Tour” was named the #1 tour of 2008.

Nearing three decades of an incredible career, Bon Jovi shows no sign of slowing down.

CLANDESTINE ANNOUNCES CD RELEASE SHOW FRIDAY FEBRUARY 11 AT THE WHISKY IN LOS ANGELES, CA.

DEBUT ALBUM DUE OUT FEBRUARY 15, 2011 ON NIGHTMARE RECORDS

Los Angeles' own CLANDESTINE have confirmed a CD release show for their new album "The Invalid" which is being released on February 15 via Nightmare Records.

The show will take place on Friday February 11 at The Whisky in Los Angeles, CA.

Lead singer June Park is eagerly anticipating the show:

"I'm very excited about our CD release show at the world famous Whisky A Go Go club in Los Angeles. It has been a while since we played out so I know I will have some excess energy to burn on the stage. I can tell there is something wild locked inside of me that needs to be unleashed by performing. I already feel the nervous excitement as I'm speaking about the show. And usually the more nervous I am, the better the performance gets which is odd. I look forward to meeting our loyal fans, and hopefully a lot more new people will come check out our new songs from "The Invalid" which will hit the streets on February 15 through Nightmare Records."

CLANDESTINE and Nightmare Records have also confirmed that they will be offering the digital version of the album at a fan friendly price of $4.99. "The Invalid" will be available at this special price at ITunes, Amazon,Nightmare and all other major digital retailers.

CLANDESTINE'S ultimate goal is combining diverse influences and styles that mark a new generation with an unnamed creation while striving to provide a sonic link from the past to the future. Their fierce and melodic style creates a bi-polarity of music that is its own enigma...

CLANDESTINE is a truly unique band, combining progressive rock with female fronted metal, a touch of electronic music that enhances the futuristic timbre, and some smooth huge pop melodies. "The Invalid" is a must for fans of bands as diverse as Evanescence, Dream Theater, Fair to Midland, Rush, Lacuna Coil, Tool and Between the Buried & Me.